Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok has been asked once again to carry SK Telecom T1 to a world championship. This year, following a heartbreaking loss in the finals in Beijing, it's harder than it ever has been to live up to his own standards.

Fnatic gets a boost in the EU LCS as it takes control of first place, and SK Telecom continues its slow climb back to the top in this week's League of Legends Global Power Rankings.

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With just two weeks left in the 2018 Spring Split, Kingzone (12-2) once again looks like the best team in the LCK. Just two weeks ago, bbq (4-10) handed Kingzone its second loss of the season and the defending LCK Champions were looking a bit worse for wear. Since then, however, Kingzone is back in rare form, having rattled off five straight wins while only dropping a single game.

How Kingzone finished the series was vastly different from how it started the series, though. Bbq continued its momentum with solid early game play that translated into a slight early game lead. In true bbq fashion, however, it had no clue what to do with this early advantage, which gave Kingzone a wide-open window in which to get back into the game. All it took was a 3-for-1 teamfight win for Kingzone at 25 minutes to make way for a Baron that gave it all the power needed to quickly wrap up the game in 31 minutes.

Losing no steam whatsoever from its late-game surge in Game 1, Kingzone decided it wanted an early night and completely blew bbq away in the final frame. Led by jungler Han "Peanut" Wang-ho's Nidalee and his 7/2/4 KDA (kills/deaths/assists), Kingzone racked up kills and objectives with impunity, never allowing bbq a chance to breathe or do anything at all from start to finish. With bbq finding just a single tower and three kills compared to the 10 towers and 13 kills from Kingzone, it was no surprise that Kingzone closed things out in a lightning fast 25 minutes.

Kingzone will get right back into the thick of it with a match against the ROX Tigers at 4 a.m. ET on Tuesday, while bbq will have its work cut out against a determined SK Telecom T1 squad at 7 a.m. ET on Wednesday.

--Wyatt Donigan

Afreeca Freecs cemented its place near the top of the League of Legends Champions Korea standings with a swift 2-0 victory over Kongdoo Monster on Sunday.

It was a tale of two teams in the opposite spots of the standings, with few people expecting Kongdoo (2-12) to fair well against the surging Afreeca (10-4). In the opening game of the series, it certainly seemed as if Afreeca was poised to run away with the series, registering what appeared to be a game-altering kill during the opening portion of the contest. Anytime that Kongdoo tried to stand up to the immense pressure that Afreeca was putting out across all lanes, Afreeca simply won a teamfight and kept moving right along. At the forefront of this impressive attack was jungler Lee "Spirit" Da-yoon's Sejuani, who completely owned his lane and made sure to get his side lanes ahead as well in the 27-minute stomp.

For as weak as Kongdoo looked in the opening game, it wasn't content to let Afreeca secure the sweep without putting up a fight. Throughout the early and mid game, Kongdoo was on the offensive, securing objectives and kills for a sizeable lead that was bolstered with a 22-minute Baron power play. Kongdoo was unable to fully capitalize on its mounting advantage, however, as Afreeca hung in and wrestled away control of the game on the back of a Baron steal by Spirit. With the buff in hand, it was only a matter of time before Afreeca, unlike Kongdoo, fully realized its offensive assault and locked up the 2-0 sweep with a 40-minute Game 2 win.

Afreeca, riding a four-game winstreak, will now turn to its match against the Jin Air Green Wings at 4 a.m. ET on Thursday, while Kongdoo Monster will look to play spoiler for MVP's playoff dream at 4 a.m. ET on Wednesday.